Mississippi Burning (1988) (2024)

Popular reviews

• Review by Nakul ★★★½ 5

  You know any movie starring Gene Hackman & Willem Dafoe is gonna be a god damn fire.

• Review by Jamelle Bouie ★★★ 3

  It is fun to try to imagine how this movie would have been written today. Far less time spent on the white denizens for one, who have a degree of interiority and nuance that doesn’t exist forthe black characters, who exist mostly to be attacked and abused.

• Review by megan ★★★½ 1

  willem dafoe hot

• Review by Cellar Door L ★★★ 5

  He may a spidey villain
  He may a horny sailorman
  He may a psycho looking man
  But Will Dafoe ain't no racist and hate the Klan

• Review by CinemaVoid 🏴‍☠️ ★★★

  We’re so lucky the FBI championed the civil rights movement and ended racism in the 70’s, imagine what we would have to deal today as a society if we hadn't overcome that sh*t.

• Review by Eliza ★★★★ 1

  I know this is a very serious movie but Willem Dafoe is H O T

• Review by Esteban Gonzalez ★★★★ 3

  “Hatred isn't something you're born with. It gets taught... At 7 years of age, you get told it enough times, you believe it. You believe the hatred. You live it... you breathe it. You marry it.”

  Alan Parker’s 1988 film which was nominated for seven Academy Awards is another reminder of what a great career Gene Hackman had, although this time he got to share the spotlight with a pair of other wonderful performances from Willem Dafoe and Frances McDormand. The fact that Mississippi Burning isn’t even considered one of Hackman’s top ten most popular films just proves how many great films he’s made over the span of five decades (he retired from acting in 2004). Since the film was…

• Review by Lydie 💜 ★★ 1

  at least half of the scenes in this movie follow one of these three templates

  1. some white character actor with a southern accent going like "hey, listen here jackass, I am WHITE, I am from MISSISSIPPI, and down here in Mississippi we're all RACIST. we do things more racistly than you COMMIES up in the NORTH. that is our HERITAGE and you will RESPECT IT" for a good three minutes, regardless of who they are talking to or whether or not they were prompted
  2. that same person going and committing some (well-shot!) hate crimes with their buddies in the middle of the night
  3. Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe showing up at the site the morning after and going "well I think we know who's behind this"

• Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★★ 17

  One of those movies that you have probably heard of if you're into watching or coming across movies about regular folks combating racism in the South. But I didn't know anything about it beyond the fact that Gene Hackman was in it; that includes Willem Dafoe.

  And what else can I say? Some viewers may object, labeling the movie as belonging to the camp of those who use stereotypical bad guys to sway viewers to their side. One might also take a more cynical view and point out how, in a film meant to comment on the harassment, terrorism, and lynchings committed by the KKK, black people feel like they are being relegated to glorified extras, and how the FBI…

• Review by shookone ★★★★ 1

  Alan Parker really was a magician on the decks, staging what could have been a run-of-the-mill bog standard hollywood thriller with the verve and esprit of a filmmaker with a vision, Peter Biziou surely helping a lot making the Monty Pythonesque visuals work in a completely different context, Trevor Jones flawless score adding to the mix. this gives you aesthetical room to breathe and reflect about the huge themes of Mississippi Burning.

  surely not the smartest move to never really address black folks as "characters" and "faces", instead just making them helpless victims. only one black boy and Frances McDormand will give you some other perspective than the scheme FBI do-gooders (the f*ck?) vs KKK fascist southerners.

  gotta admit though…

• Review by ciara ★★★½ 1

  young willem dafoe i love youuuUUUuuuuU 😛ehhh

• Review by Ninjaa 🇮🇳 ★★★★

  Hatred isn't something you're born with. It gets taught. You believe the hatred. You live it, you breathe it. You marry it.